Introduction and Potty Help

[shishkabab]

Hello, my dog Charlie is almost 2 years old and we have had him since he was a puppy. I am trying to figure out how to get him 100% potty trained. When we first got him we used potty pads, but he was also eliminating in other areas indoors. This was 100% my fault, as I would allow him to get away with it.

Fast forward 1.5 years later and we have made some improvement....if we are home he ALWAYS asks to go outside, but this usually happens every 4 hours or so. The problem is when we're not home, he will go potty indoors (we live in an apartment). What's the best way to teach a dog to "hold it"??? We tried crates, but he will go in his crate after about 6 hours.

by the way, we already checked with the vet if there are any health problems, and everything is clear. Thanks so much for your help.

Here's the culprit

 

[shishkabab]

anyone?

 

[AliciaD]

Aww! The culprit is so cute!

Personally, I don't know if this is a myth or not, but you could try not cleaning it up in front of him, *shrugs*.

What I would do is make up a regular schedule, not just dog asks so dog goes out (although, he should go out whenever he asks just to be sure).

So it goes...
Wake up at 8 am.
Dog goes out at 8:15.
Breakfast.
Dog goes out right before work.
Blah, blah blah.
Dog goes out at 5.
Dog dinner.
Dog goes out at 6.
Dog goes out 1t 9.

Obviously, adjust it to your schedule, the important thing is to have it and to stick with it. I find that some dogs who are pottying inside make great progress once on a schedule. Maybe they think "I don't know when I'll go out next, so I might as well do it now!"

Do you free feed him? Does he pick when and how much he eats? If so, stop that!!!
Feed a smaller breakfast. Give him 15 minutes to eat it, and then put it away. Your doing this so that you can get his bowels on schedule too! If he isn't having accidents at night, you can give a larger dinner in the evening, or in the afternoon. (Do not do any strenuous exercise for at least 1 hour after feeding him).

Sorry, it's so late at night I'm not sure if any of this will help, but it's worth a shot.

Also, when in doubt, make the correct behavior extremely rewarding. Praise all outside pottying efforts,